TAMPA — Mayor Bob Buckhorn has hailed Savtira Corp. as “one of Tampa’s success stories,” but the startup tech firm’s founder and chief executive officer has loose ends in a previous chapter of his business life.

Timothy M. Roberts owes $25,000 of a $30,000 civil penalty he agreed to pay to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a document obtained by the Tampa Bay Business Journal under the Freedom of Information Act. The penalty was supposed to have been paid more than two years ago, under terms of a final judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

In an email exchange with the Business Journal, Roberts said he had paid the penalty in full. Then, when sent the SEC document by email, he replied, “Thanks for the information. Seems that an accounting error must have been made and I will work diligently to figure out why my payoff isn’t reflected. This is the first I have heard of this.”

A spokeswoman for the SEC declined comment. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, who signed the final judgment and retained jurisdiction for the purposes of enforcing its terms, also would not comment, according to his court clerk.

Judgment spells out remedies

Roberts agreed to pay the $30,000 civil penalty in September 2008, two years after the SEC charged him for his role in a “junk fax” scheme to promote the stock of Infinium Labs Inc., a Sarasota firm that later relocated to Seattle.

Roberts additionally agreed not to violate securities laws, not to serve as an officer or director of a public company and not to take part in penny stock offerings for five years from the date of the settlement.

He agreed to pay the penalty in two installments.

The first $5,000 was due within 120 days, which was Jan. 17, 2009. He paid by check on Feb. 26, 2009, according to the SEC. The document showed the second installment of $25,000 was due on Sept. 14, 2009, but remained outstanding as of Oct. 12.

Most SEC settlements require payments more quickly, said Adam Schwartz, a partner at Carlton Fields in Tampa and a member of the law firm’s white-collar crime and government investigations practice group.

“Most people do pay up,” Schwartz said.

Final judgments spell out the remedies available when one side breaches an agreement, said Frederick S. Schrils, a shareholder in the Tampa office of law firm GrayRobinson PA. Merryday’s order called for post-judgment interest to accrue on amounts paid later than the scheduled installment date.

The SEC could make an application to the court regarding a breach, which could trigger a hearing or SEC collection procedures, Schrils said.

“The amount of the fine would suggest they did not view this as a significant violation,” Schrils said.

In addition, the SEC “has a lot on its plate right now,” such as Ponzi schemes, Schrils said. “With the passage of Dodd-Frank they are far busier dealing with corporate compliance issues.”

Seeking a ‘golden carrot’

Roberts has publicly said on several occasions that Savtira is the culmination of his life’s work. Using cloud technology, which allows data to be stored offsite and accessed through the Internet, Savtira plans to use e-commerce to sell downloadable entertainment and business software through branded online stores.

The company is in line for $2.65 million in state and local tax incentives if it creates 265 jobs, as it said it would do in an application to Florida’s Qualified Target Industries program. Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa approved the incentives in July.

“We could grow much greater than that to 1,000-2,000 employees, which is where the legacy incumbent e-commerce providers are,” he told Buckhorn during “The Mayor’s Hour” on a YouTube video uploaded by the city of Tampa on Sept. 2.

“You guys have been phenomenal to work with,” Roberts said. “The tax incentives are great, but if you make it to that, it’s a golden carrot out there. What’s really nice is getting the PR and the exposure because that helps get our message out there and creates a lot of business opportunities and brings a lot of new employees into the company.”

About the penaltyThe civil penalty stemmed from a 2006 case in which Timothy M. Roberts, former CEO of Infinium Labs Inc., was accused of hiring stock promoter Michael Pickens, the son of oil investor T. Boone Pickens, to send faxes to tens of thousands of potential investors nationally. The faxes made it appear Infinium was on the verge of launching its flagship product, when in fact the company lacked the financial resources to overcome significant technological and manufacturing hurdles, the SEC said. Over the four months of the campaign, Roberts took advantage of the increased trading volume in Infinium Labs share to sell his personal stock holdings without reporting the sales to the public, the SEC said in a statement announcing the final judgment. Roberts consented to the entry of the final judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint. — Margie Manning

Margie Manning is Print Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She also covers the Money beat.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.